Diary of Trooper Ion Llewellyn Idriess-1917-1918 - Part 5

still.  Just about dark

we came to a large

sized Syrian or Bedouin

village.  There was a 

most cruel sight here.

Hundreds of Turkish

waggons were jumbled

together in one mass of

hopeless confusion.  The

bullocks and horses and

mules were still yolked

to the waggons and were

in a pitiable state.  Some

of them were dead just

where they had been blown

up or shot, others were

strangled by the yolks

and the weight of the

loaded waggons on top

of them, a few lucky

 ones, with the waggon

shafts smashed, had

broken away, but the

great majority were

still alive, & very few

standing up, most of them

twisted up in the waggons

and slowly dying of

hunger and thirst and

strangulation.  The waggons

were fully loaded with

all the gear of the army.

Coming and going from the

waggons to the village

was a constant stream of

Bedouin men women and

children, staggering away

under great heavy loads

of loot.  Scattered over

the ground for hundreds

of yards were the records

of the Turkish army, and

sheafs of private letters

were scattered everywhere.

Rifles, bayonets,

stacks of cases of ammunition

many waggons loaded

with brimful boxes of

shiny brass bombs, farriers

gear saddlers, armourers

gear, waggons loaded

with doctors gear, with

Turkish officers gear, the

baggage of a retreating

army.  We pushed on,

just the same tale!

Broken waggons, dead

bullocks, Turkish clothing

littered everywhere.  At

dark we camped and

early this morning, made

for a big Assyrian

village, where we

found a well two

hundred feet deep.  We

hauled up enough

water to water our

wretched horses, and

now have just had a 

meal and a blessed

quart of tea ourselves.

A  It is 12 o'clock now,

and we were damned hungry

and thirsty.  We got a lot of

feed from a Turkish waggon

for our horses, and they have

eaten until they can eat no more.

We are pushing the Turks

towards Jerusalem now. A

couple of miles ahead is

rifle and machine gun fire,

and the air is thick with

shrapnel smoke, from the

Turkish rear-guard. The

country is changing. On

every hill is a thickly

populated village with

trees around it, some of

them in the distance appear

to be towns. We are moving

off again now, and thank

everything I have got this

damned diary completed

now.  About 2p.m. We have

caught up with the regiment,

and what fun we have missed

in the last few hours.  The

regiment had a great two

mile charge, knocking the

Turkish rear guard to blazes.

Altogether our little 2nd Brigade

has captured 1400 prisoners

and thirteen guns. I believe

the First Brigade also

captured another 1000 prisoners,

but I don't know the number

of guns.  As I wasn't in yesterdays

afternoon and night

performance, I can't write

about it .... We are camped

in a very big village

now, and are finding it

terribly hard to get water

for our horses.  This

village, like all the others,

is on a hill surrounded 

by its prickly pear hedges,

inside of which are its

fruit trees.  In the centre

are the mud houses and
thatched roofs.  There was a 
German camp here.  There are a

dozen German waggons left

behind, half a dozen violins,

and the ground is littered 

with with music, gas masks

cartridges and clothes.  But there

are half a dozen great hogs

heads here, and the lousy

swine  j  had just time to

knock the bungs out and

roll the casks over before

our fellows galloped on them.

Their whole camp stinks of

beer. In my hurry to write

up these notes this morning,

I forgot all about the most

important thing of all.  Yesterday

morning, in a Turkish

camp, we came across some

cases of tobacco and cigarettes.

We swarmed to that tobacco

as ants swarm to honey

comb. In a twinkling every

man was smoking Turkish

cigarettes of puffing from a

long empty pipe.  It

was great .... The country is

getting very pretty now,

On every hill are large

villages, much larger and

cleaner than any we have

seen before, and surrounded

by their cactus hedges and

trees, with the low fields

in between, they look very

well indeed.  About two

miles ahead, is a very pretty

little town, white walls

and red roofs.  Many of

the larger w villages are

adorned with white stone

mosques. The inhabitants are

much more cleanly and

prosperous looking, and

some of the young girls are

actually beginning to look

pretty.  Jashos rear guard
is  still throwing his shrapnel

about, but we're not taking

much notice of him.  Water is

the only thing that troubles us

now,.... Both Morry and Stan

had to go to the mobile column

with their horses.  What a shame,

after putting in all these

miserable months, and then

to miss the most interesting

battles of all history.... We

are all delighted with the

success of the operations,

General Allenby has made

good,...... Next morning To our

great surprise, yesterday evening

the infantry came up, and took

over from us. We rode over to

the beach, where we are going to

spell our dead beat horses for

a couple of days, and let the 

poor brutes get a little life

into them before we push

on again.  The organisation

of these operations is splendid.

Those infantry must have been

pushed on after us at great

speed, and arrived in great

time. Our rations are well

kept up to us, except horse

feed and x  worst thing of

all, tobacco....... Very peaceful 

this morning seems.  Just by us

are the sand dunes of the sea,

hedging them round are the

orchards and prickly pear

hedges, there is no dust so far,

and it is a beautifully quiet,

clear morning.  I have not

heard a single gun shot

yet.  This land is supposed to

be flowing with milk and 

honey, and such rot. In

reality, the orchards, so far

as we have seen, are

miserable, puny things, and

when the miserable trees do

have fruit on them the

inhabitants guard them as if

they were gold mines.  Another thing

that strikes us all as rot.  The 

papers have been full of the

wretched inhabitants of Palestine

starving of hunger.  This may be

true of the country below

Jerusalem.  It certainly is not

true of the people we have seen

so far, and especially of the

prosperous villagers around

here. The men women and

children are all fat and healthy,

have plenty of clothes and

plenty to eat.  Their flocks are

fat and large, as far as flocks

go in this part of the world.

And again, they are supposed

to liberate us welcome us

"Liberators" with open arms

and tears of joy.  Instead, they

hang white rags on the 

roofs of their houses, and for

the rest tell us all the lies.

imaginable to keep us from

drawing water from their

wells, and for the rest let

us know very plainly that

we are aliens, and to keep

our distance.  If these are

the old stock of the Bible

days they have certainly

not learned the first

rudiments of personal

cleanliness yet. The Turks

we have killed and

captured are in very very

much better condition than

we are. They are all fat,

well equipped, plenty of

tucker, plenty of tobacco,

and their waggons and

themselves are loaded with

good winter clothing.  They

are profusely supplied with

first class ammunition, both

for rifles and guns and

bombs.  They have a really

good air service, which has

failed them for the first time

during these operations, thanks

to our vastly improved air

service. Their own air service

is very plentifully supplied with

great drums of petrol, branded

Vacuum Oil Company, America......

Next morning. It rained last

night, and very heavily towards

Jerusalem.  That is

great.  In all probability 

there will be plenty of water

in the wadi beds for ourselves

and our horses.

Greatest of Boons.  A tobacco

and Cigarette issue has

just arrived.  And the man

who is responsible for

keeping it back should be

hung. We hear rumours

that the infantry took Hebron

yesterday. What a great triumphant 

advance we are making

Somewhere about the 13th. We started

out again this morning, and are

now behind some low hills,

listening to the guns of the

Turkish rear guard blazing at

our infantry. The Turks have

turned to make a stand. The

Yeomanry passed through

yesterday, and their horses

looked fat and fresh.  Our

couple of days spell has done

our horses and ourselves a lot

of good. We have had a

chance to dress our wretched 

septic sores, which wanted

attending to very badly.

Eventide.  All is very

quiet.  The Turkish guns have

ceased firing.  From the 

hills we can see Jaffa

and Jerusalem.  Old Jerusalem

...... Some of the 7th were

saying that they occupied

a village and the

inhabitants came out and

gave three hearty cheers

for the British.  The day after.

Early morning. We moved off

again shortly after dark, and

soon passed through the

infantry camp. There were fires

everywhere, and men in big

groups were singing heartily.

They seemed to be in very high

spirits.  Then we saw the

secret of the infantry rapid

march. There was a great

long line of motor lorries.

Through the night, a few

miles ahead, a great fire

started, and it is still

burning. It is the retreating

Turkish army burning its

stores.  Everything is very

still this morning.  We are

moving out against the 

rearguard at any moment

11am. We have come a

good many miles this morning.

The Turkish rearguard is

retreating very rapidly.  We

are passing very pretty little

towns now, all red roofed,

built on the small hills,

and surrounded by their

trees and prickly pear hedges.

All in between the towns

is the strip of fertile lands,

while to the east runs the

long line of Judaean hills,

and to the west the sea.

It is very hard to scrape

up enough sticks to boil

our quarts, and water is

very scarce. Out of a 

German waggon we came

on a lot of doctors stuff,

amount it being some

ointment. We tried it on

our septic sores, and the

result is splendid.  In twelve

hours most of the small

sores have scabs on them, and

soon stop running. The ointment

burns like blazes at first.  The

day after.  We moved off again

yesterday afternoon, and

soon came across a large

sized village, with the

railway line running through.

Here had been a German

aerodrome and camp.  The

largest motor lorry I have

ever seen was lying there

burnt and a taube was

burnt too.  They must have 

had to leave in a great 

hurry.  Machinery was burnt

everywhere,  and large quantities

of stores.  One big dump

of stores was still intact

and great quantities of

ammunition.  A big room

was stacked with swords

...... Early this morning  we

came on a rather pretty

Turkish camp, tents still

standing, little houses

intact, and the black crescent

flying from half a dozen

buildings. The Turks are a

few miles ahead of us in

the hills, and are shelling

us now.  All branches of

our Army are pressing

them with great rapidity.

We hear that yesterday the

Yeomanry captured 1200

prisoners, and charged

and captured two guns.

A regiment of the 4th

Brigade cut the Jaffa

railway line and

captured three trains,

one of them a hospital

train, in which was a

man of the 8th L. Horse,

wounded in the back

during the first Gaza stunt,

We are ready to move

off at any moment.  17th Nov

Yesterday we passed by

very pretty little towns, built

of white rock and red

roofs, and surrounded in

many cases by fruit trees.

The inhabitants are very

fair skinned, and are

evidently Jews.  They seem

well enough pleased to

see us, but are charging us

great prices for bred brown

bread and dry tobacco.  In

the distance, not many miles

away, is the big town of

Jaffa.  Some hundreds of

prisoners went through 

this morning who were

caught at Lud.  Some of

our chaps got some wine

yesterday from the inhabitants

of the little town

close by and things are

pretty lively.  Yesterday

we rode through the
place along a narrow
road, the inhabitants in
queer costumes staring at
these strange soldiers. We
actually passed a queer
little hotel, with hotel
written on a signboard
in English characters and
other signs above in
Greek. There was a very
fair looking girl leaning
over the verandah with
bared white arms, and
the place itself was full
of Tommy officers. The
Turks have not harmed
these little towns and
their mild inhabitants at
all. They have plenty of
flocks, plenty of bread,
plenty of wine, and
evidently lead civilised
xxxx  lives. These little
towns are very pretty. We
are getting among orange
orchards now, and the green
orchards are giving the whole
regiment the tummy ache.
Stan came back yesterday
from the mobile column. He
said that about the Tank
redoubt  at Gaza, there are
lying thousands of skeletons,
all with their rusty equipment
still on where they fell
during the last xx second
Gaza stunt. They have been
amply revenged this time. What
remains of the tank is still
there...19th. we moved away
from the little town yesterday,
and for some miles rode
through lines of prickly
pear, on each side of which
were orange orchards, thickly
laden with fruit. The road
was very dusty at Ramleh